Power plant



. i w. SCHMIDT Feb. 21, 1928.

POWER- PLAIT Filed Jan, 14. 1921 a By I I Anon/ms Patented Feb; 21, 1928. i I 1,659,963

UNITED- STATES PATENT: OFFICE.

WILI-IELM somvrrnr, or oAssE -wI HnLMsHoHE, GERMANY; sI MoN HOFF'MANN, on cAssEL-wILHn MsHoHn, GERMANY, EXECUTOR on SAID SCHMIDT, nnonasnn,

AssIGnon TO sonmrn'rsonn nnIssnAMPF G. .M. B. H., on. onssEL-wI ELMs- HOHE, GERMANY, A oonronatrronon GER A Y, v

POWER PLANT.

' Application filed'J'anuary 14, 1921, Serial No. 437,200 ,'and in Germany-December 11, 1919.- a

Myinvention relates to power plants, and, of the steam engine, the size of the cylinders particularly to such as comprise an internal of the'internal combustion engine will here 50 combustion engine in combination with a ducedconsiderably for a given total energy steam engine. Power plants of this general of the plant, andI also secure the further 5 character have been devised heretofore in advantage that the internal combustion enwhich the waste heat of the internal comgine may be started with the aid of the steam bustion engine, and particularly the waste engine, so that in many cases, the extensive 5 heat within the water jacket, has been and complicated: arrangements for starting utilized for generating steam, which steam the internal combustion engine may be disin turn has been employed to drive the steam 'pensed with. v

engine, or at leastto assist in 'its'operation; In order to attain the object indicated The advantage of such arrangements lies in above,'it is essential that the steam power 60 the favorable thermic efiiciency which, in plant should be asperfect as possible. One casethe duty of the steam plant is smaller of the best means for increasing the eflicienoy than that-of the internal combustion'engine', of the steam power plant by itself, that-is to may equal or even exceed that of a plant say, irrespective of theadditi'onal heat's'up consisting exclusively of an internal com plied by the internal combustion engine, 'lies 5 bustion engine. Furthermore, the presence in the'use of a high steam pressure since, in of a steam plant in addition to the internal this case, with proper arrangements, the 0p} combustion engine increases the reliability eration of theste'am engine is improved in of the whole plant, since over-loads are perseveral respects" Such high pressure is missible, and, in case of need, the arrange adapted to high expansion workand also afment may continue to operate without the fords'the possibility of superhe'ating the ininternal combustion engine, termediate steam of compound steam engines The advantages last mentioned make it and particularly, the steam of the lower ex: appear desirable to increase, as far as possi I pansi'on stages by means oflive steam. It is ble.,the share of the total work which falls well known that the efficiency of the'stea-m upon the steam-engine. t will, however, be engine can be increased materially by a'sufevident that, other things being equal, an ficient superheating of the intermediate increase of the steam plant will bring about steam. This superheating of the intera reduction of the total thermic el'liciency of mediate steam, however, is not practicable,

the entire power plant since there will be a as a rule, in the case of large plants, for the progressive reduction of the'ratio which the reason'that it is impossible, on accountof the waste heat of the internal combustion engine large steam volume, to convey the steam 35 bears to the heat produced by the steam r'rcomthe engine to" the boiler'furnaoe-and boiler furnace, back to'the-engine. When using high pres- The object of the present invention is to sure steam, however, the intermediate steam increase the share of the steam'engine in armay be superheated at the engine by live rangements of the character referred to as steam.

40 far as possible, but atthe same time, it re- In power plants combining steam engines duces. as far as possible, the fuel consumpand "internal vcombustion engines as vcontion of the steam plant so that, for instance, structed hereto, the cooling jacket of the in- 0 in the case of a steam engine the dutybf ternal combustion engine cylinders has been which isdouble that of the internal oomin direct communication with the steamboil- 45 bastion engine, the total thermic efliciency of er. Therefore, if the boilerlpressureis inthe entire plant will still equal, or at least, creased, there will be a corresponding inapproximate that ofan internal combustion crease of pressure and consequently of temengine used alone. By increasing the duty perature in the cool1ng1acket. This increase head. For these reasons, it is possible only the steam pressure.

within certain limits to increase the efliciency of the power plant by increasmg In order th at the steam pressure in the steam power plant and its thermic efficiency may be increased to a maximum, this invention contemplates keeping the steam pressurev in the cooling jacket below that in the steam boiler and conveying the steam of the cooling jacket to an intermediate stage of the steam engine whether the latter be a reciprocating piston engine or a turbine. Of course, a portion of the steam might be used for other purposes, for instance, for heating. 7

If the steam pressure be made sui'iiciently high, the improved arrangement enables me,- when using a comparatively small steam unit, that is to say, one of a horsepower which is low relatively to the energy supplied by the internal' combustion engine, to increase the total thermic efficiency of the plant materially above that which would be characteristic of a plant consisting exclusively of an internal combustion engine. If, however, we are satisfied with a medium total thermic'efliciency; say, one approximating that of an'internal combustion engine' alone, the share of the steam engine energy relatively to that of the internal combustion engine may be increased materially, under certain circumstances up to about doublethe amount. In many cases, as in ship engines, such an increase is more desirable than the case above mentioned in which the steam en ine performs a relatively small duty. In the case of single acting, four cycle internal combustion engines, the largest working cylinders which have been found practicable hereto, have a diameter of 700 millimeters. lVitha six cylinder engine, this means the production of about 2400 effective horse-power in one shaft. By the use of my present invention, with cylinders of the same size and with a practically'equal fuel consumption per effective horse-power hour, I may obtain as much as 7200 effective horse-power from one shaft; or, to put it in a different way; if the shaft is to deliver only 2400 horse-power, then with my invention, using the same number of cylinders and the same piston speed, the diameter of the cylinders may be reduced toabout 4.00

millimeters. This comparison will clearly indicate the material advantage secured by my invention.

If a pressure of 50 atmospheres is employed in the boiler of the. steam power plant, and if, in addition thereto, we use all the expedients which have a favorable influence upon the operation of the steam en.-

gine, such as high superheating and in some cases, repeated superheating' of the live steam and of the" intermediate steam, and high vacuum, a higher degree ofexpansion', .etc; then the steam coming from the steam boiler alone will require a heat consumption of about 2000 calories for each effective horse-power hour figured on the heat of the steam. The smaller'the heat consumption of the steam engine by itself, the greater will be the influence of the utilization of the waste'heat of the internal combustion engine. If, for instance,we consider a four cycle internal combustion engine witha heat consumption of 1800 colaries per effective horsepower hour of vnich 750 calories-dc rived from the waste heat are utilizable for the production of steam; then assuming a 1 boiler efliciency at the heat consumption of the steamboiler plant in fuel is reduced to calories per effective horse-power hour of the steam engine, if the steam engine and the internal combustion engine share equally in the total work. The consumption of heat figuredwith reference to the total, energy will thus be found to be Marcel caloriesper effective horse-powerlhour and caloriesor 2031' calories per horse-power hour. With reference to the total energy this indicates a heat consumption of calories per effective horse-power hour. The total thermic etiiciency even in this case s stlll 32.3% and therefore ust as high as that of a'two cycle internal combustion en- On the other hand, if we consider the case of a power plant the steam portion of which are calories per elfectivehorse-power hour. Ifthe steam engine performs the same amount- ,of work as the internal combustion engine,

the heat consumption, with" reference-to the total energy, will amount to calories per effective horse-power hour and thetotal thermic efliciency is only 28.9% as s compared with 37.6% which was obtained whenemploying a'highsteam pressure.

If'the work performed by the steam engine is double that of the internal combustion engine, the heat consumption per effective horse-power hour of the total energy will be 2623 calories, and the total thermic etficiency only 24% against 323% as in the case first assumed; v

The figures ,foundby the first calculations refer toa power plant employing the high steam pressure of '50 atmospheres in the @001. ing jacket as well as in the boiler. This, will insure the. greatest possible energy of steam for a given total efficiency,but itv would be impossible for practical reasonsflo construct the cyl nders of the internal combustion engine insuch a manner as to be sure of their reliable operation." If a steam pressureof 5O atmospheres exists in thecooling jacket, this would correspond to an evaporation temperature of. 263" centigrade, and,'wi th the very best construction of thecy linders, the temperature of the sliding surface of the piston would amount to about 290 centigrade, and this would seriously interfere with the proper motion of the-pistonand piston rings and even-possibly render such motion impossible. i i I In order to avoid this drawback, the. steam pressure in the cylinder jacketsof the in-' ternal combustion engine is maintainedbelow that of live steam, as has been mentioned herein above, and this'steam, of lowerpres sure than the live steam, is preferably then conveyed to an intermediate stage of the steaii'i engine. Any su table means may be employed to insure that the steam pressure I in the cylinder jackets of the ,internal .combustion engine will remain below that of the live steam. Generally, a proper relative dimensioning of theseveral elements of the plant will be sufficientto insure this result.

To guard against any abnormal conditions and to insure said result positively, I may provide ablow-otf-valve set'to allow the escape of steam from the cylinder jackets at a definite pressure, which would be below that of the live' steam: If, for instance, the

steam pressure in the cooling jacket is taken at 12 atmospheres, which corresponds to a cooling water temperature of 187 centigrade, the'tempei'ature of the sliding surfaceof the piston will-be only about 210, 7 if the cylinder is properly constructed, and this temperature willnot interfere with the proper operation of the engine. The ec onomic or efficiency resultwill, however, re main approximately the same as if a high steam pressure were employed in the cooling jacket. pBy 'mcans of the expedients dcv scribed above, and particularly owing-to the high boiler pressure avalable'for the'interniediate superheating the heat consun'iption ofthe steam engine with a live steam pres sure of 12 atmospheres, may bebrought to 7 about 2350 calories per effective horse-power.

The share of this lower value utilization of thesteam is, however, only a' fraction of the total steam energy. Utilizing the waste heat of'tlie internal combustion engine at the rate of 750 calories per effective horse-power hour, a steam energy of about efiectivehorse-power hour can beperformed. The amount of steam tobe supplied by the boiler per effective horse-power hour of the total steam work, will in this case amount to horse-power.hours of the total work,

calories; that is to say, 1750 calories pereffective'horse-powei' hour; this corresponds to a total thermic efficiency of 36.1%.

If the work performed by thesteam engine is double that of the internal combustion engine, the calculation will be as follows. In order to produce 1.68 effective horse power per hour at the boiler plant, there will have to be supplied ,LGSXZOOO' I jo s 15 2 tive horse-power hour's, 1800+4200= 6000 calories, or'for one effective ho 'se power l10l1I, I

calories; this corresponds to atotal therinic efiiciency of 31.6%. As has been explained calories, or altogether, for two effective lit) Ind

' calories, altogether, tlierefor, for threeeifeclit) in the water acket, I secure also the advan-' tage, as stated above, oi a relatively-moderate temperature at the sliding surtace ol the piston and cylinder. A further reduction of this temperature may be obtained by employing in the cylinder a combustion pres} sure lower than usual; for 1n this case, the

heat transfer to the cooling medium is din'iinishcd and a portion of the heat which otherwise would pass into the jacket is carried away by the exhaust gases from which it may be recovered more readily.

Both expedients, (reducing the steam pressure in the cooling jacket and the combustion pressure in the cylinder) when used together, permit the wall thickness of the cylinder to be reduced to the practically allowable minimum and thus reduce correspondingly the strains towhich the cylinder walls are subjected by heat influences. The formation of cracks in the cylinder walls is thus avoided with certainty.

Furthermore, a reduction of the combustion pressure otters the advantage of permitting the combustion temperature to be reduced without any sacrifice at all in the mechanical efliciency. This may be explained as follows.

The lower pressure or strain which is placed on the piston rods and other rods in this case enables such rods to be made of relativelyflsmall dimensions thereby reducing the losses by friction. As soon, however as the indicated horse-power or work, which depends on the increase of the combustion temperature during combustion, and the friction work, are in a certain constantrelation to each other, the mechanical eiliciency re crease in the reliableoperation of the internal combustion engine.

The large share of Work performed by the steam engine relatively to that performed by the internal combustion engine presents the ing to the reduction in the strains of the piston rod and other rods, than in a plant employing the usual high combustion pressure, assuming, of course, the same horse-power. Thus I avoid the expensive and complicated compressed air tanks, pipes and adj-uncts, as well asthe complicated distributing arrangements at the cylinders of the internal combustion engine and further, the

danger of heat cracks being formed in the cylinder walls by the sudden cooling ot'the hot cylinder walls when manoeuvring.

The drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention. A is a steam boiler, B is a four-phase reciprocating piston steam engine, O is a tour cylinder internal combustion engine, 1') is a water pr -heater and E is a condenser. The steam engine and the internal combustion engine operate on the same shaft. r p The boiler A produces steam which is conducted to the high pressure cylinder of the steam engine through a conduit F. The steam is serially expanded in the various phases of this engine and is finally condensed in E. The exhaust gases of the internal combustion engine areconductedthrough pipe G to the pre-heater D, and pass outot the lat ter at H in a cooled condition. The water that has been heated in vD is conducted through pipe G to the water compartment of a steamcontainer K, the latter being located above thecylin dersofthe internal combustion engine. The water compartment'of this container isconnectedby means of pipes O with the lower part of the cooling jackets. The upperpartsof the cooling jackets are connected by means of steam pipes P with the steam compartment of container K; The steam is conducted. from this container through the pipe L to a re'ceivingchamber located between the high and middle pressure cylinders of the steam engine. At S, I have indicated a safety valve or blow-01f valve on the steam compartment of the container K, saidvalve being set so as to release steam. from this compartment if the pressure therein should rise above the intended point. lVith this arrangement, therefore, the pressure in said compartment and in the pipe. L will always be maintained below the pressure: ofthe live steam. The steam blowing off through the safety valve S may be conveyed, as through a ipe L, to a place of use, for instance a re iator or other heating apparatus.

Various changes in the specific form shown,

and described may be madewit-hout departing from the spirit of my invention as set forth in the'appended claims. i

I claim: 1 r

1. A power plant comprising a boiler, a

compound steam engine receiving steamfrom said boiler, an internal combustion engine having a cooling water jacket in which steam is generated by the heat of said internal combustion engine and in whichfthere is maintained a pressure below that of'the boil er, and a connection for conveying the steam generated in said jacket between two stages of said compound engine,

2. A power plant comprising a compound steam engine the high-pressure stage of which I receives steam of at least 20 atm. from a source of supply, an internal'combustion enby the heat of said internal combustion en-v gine and in which there is maintained a pressure below that at which the high pressuresteamis led to said steam engine, anda connection forconveying the steam generated in said jacket to the said compound steam engine between two stages of said engine, the capacity of the steam engine being at least approximately one-half of the power capacity of the entire plant, and the total thermic efficiency of the power plant being substantially equal to the thermic efliciency of an internal combustion engine.

- 4. A power plantcomprisinga multistage steam engine having a high-pressure cylinder, a low-pressure cylinder, and a conduit therebetween for leading the exhaust steam or the high-pressure cylinder to'the lowpressure cylinder; an internal combustion engine having a plurality of cylinders, both engines working on the same'shaft; a lowpressure boiler; and a' feed water'heater adapted to preheat the feed water for the said low-pressure boiler,the latter consisting o'fwater jackets surrounding said cyl-' inders, a steam and water collector common to and arranged above said water jackets, tubes connectlng the upper portions of said water jackets to the steam space of said col- 'lector, return tubes connecting the water space ofsaid collector with the lower por-I tions of said water'j'ackets; aconnection between the hot water end of the said feed water heater andthe water space of the said collector; a second connection between the steam space of the said collector and said conduit; a boiler for supplying high pressure steam to the high pressure cylinder of the steam engine; and a connection leading the exhaust gases of the internal combustion en 'ine cylinders through said feed water heater. 7

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. I r

' WILHELM SCHMIDT. 

